The novel begins with a chapter on Will, then one on Allison. Chapters alternate, occasionally linked very directly: one chapter ends, "He remembered everything" and the next begins, "She remembered nothing." The novel seems to conspire to bring these two lovers together, using coincidences that strain credibility (for example, it turns out that Allison is the daughter of Kitty Vaught, Will's girlfriend in The Last Gentleman). Percy may have intended to make a point with this string of coincidences; in a similar way, The Last Gentleman seems to conspire to baptize Jamie, whether he likes it or not. However, critics have complained that this technique and the unabashedly optimistic ending makes the novel overly sentimental.